San Diego Weekend

I just returned from a lovely weekend in Encinitas (San Diego area) staying with my oh so accommodating sister, Arlene and her husband Ron. Her beautifully remodeled home had me ready to move in for good, but eventually I had to leave the beach and palm trees and sunny weather behind and head back home to the chill of fall in Utah.

Arlene and Jenny picked me up from the airport and after a nice seafood lunch at the bay-side, we took a drive to the old neighborhood. This is looking down the street towards the beach from my first home on Del Mar Street.

I had to get a picture of this house just a half a block up from our old home. It's a cute Cotswold re-creation selling for just 1.7 million!

After dropping Jenny off at work we took a little stroll down to Sunset Beach.

Post funeral - this is a shot of Uncle Thayne's family - my cousins and their children and their children. It was so great to see family members that I haven't laid eyes on in years.

Arlene and I took another drive out to Point Loma to see the light house and the view through the fog/haze.

We had a little bit of a surprise the day after the funeral we got a call from Tina and Ruby that they were there a day late. Oops! Oh well, it was great to see them again. Ruby is our favorite! and at 86 still as spunky as ever!

Out to lunch with Tina and Ruby, Arlene and Jenny.

On my last day in So Cal I had to spend on the beach to really maximize the de-stressing of the whole weekend. Jenny was kind enough to hang out with me for the afternoon. We had a great time chatting in the sun and diving in the surf.

Jenny's new car!

Kidding.

There was a "woody" car show going on at the beach that day.

I guess all good things must come to an end.

Thanks again Arlene, Ron and Jenny!

Sunset Hills Park

Just sharing a few more because he's so dang cute!

American Fork Canyon with Danielle & Mac

Danielle and I took Mac for a little nature hike up American Fork Canyon on their latest visit to Utah. Mac is definately an outdoor boy!

With his Mama on the trail.

Resting with Grams.

The awe and wonder of nature!

London - One Last Day

I'm finally posting our last day of our London-Paris trip, then I will be moving on from things that happened two months ago, to the more current but sadly less exciting.

This was taken as we were leaving the Notting Hill area.


We stopped off at the Natural History Museum on our way to the Theatre.

Wicked. Loved it! Then we had a bite to eat at a litte Indian restaurant across the street.

St. Paul's was closed so we were unable go in, but it was beautiful from the outside.

We worked off our Indian feast by taking a long walk through Hyde Park. It's huge; you could spend the day there easily. Think Central Park in NYC, full of trees, lakes, buildings, trails and lot's of families just enjoying the outdoors.

And a fond farewell to beautiful , beautiful England. We hope to be back next year to continue our explorations.

Day 6 - The Cotswolds

This was one of my favorite parts of our trip...the tour of the quaint Cotswold villages with Blenheim Palace thrown in. The Cotswold area is famous for its wool and the little villages sprang up as a result of the trade. The sweet little cottages are all made from the yellow Cotswold stone - even the roofs as well.

First stop - Burford. With a light rain coming down we took refuge in one of the little pastry shops!

Next was the village of Bourton on the Water. We ate lunch in a darling little upstairs dinging room and had some classic British fare: Shepherds Pie!

We picked up nice print of the old village from a local gallery here .

One of my favorite things - the old houses. I wanted to take them home with me!

This was the view from the road as we made our way to the last village.

Bibury - said to be one of the loveliest of all the Cotswold villages.

An finally...Blenheim Palace, home to the 11 Duke of Marlboro. During America's "gilded age" the 9th Duke was married to Consuelo Vanderbilt who brought quite a bit of cash to the arranged marriage. Winston Churchill was born here (his uncle was then the Duke) and he is also buried here.

From the back, beautiful. Think Pemberly...and then some!

As you leave the formal manicured gardens you head off to the lake area complete with boat house.

Day 5 - Paris

On day two in Paris we headed over towards the Eiffel Tower again and found ourselves some breakfast at a little street cafe.

There was a huge crowd at the Eiffel Tower so we took a pass on the long wait to go up and also took a pass at the ever-persistent gypsies that seem to permeate all tourist sites in Paris.

Our next stop was over to Notre Dame which was so amazing inside and out.

I especially loved the outer door. I wanted to take it home with me!

Afterwards we crossed the pont and made our way over to the other side of the Seinne where there is a nice walkway beside the river and took a lengthy stroll.

Day 4 - Paris

After dodging a few persistant gypsies at the train station, we made our way to our hotel and dropped our things off, then headed to the subway. We emerged from our station tunnel on the Champs Elysees and this is what stood before us! The Arch de Triumph!

After enjoying a little lunch at a street cafe, we traversed over to the Seine for a river cruise. Here we're passing under one of the more ornate bridges, the Pont des Invalides.

Musee d'Orsay.

Just coming upon Le Louvre.

Notre Dame on Ile de la Cite - a little island that was once all of Paris.

Back to our starting point in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Back to the Champs Elysees where we found the crepe vendors! Gruyere and ham! - the beginning of the diet downfall!

Crepes + Pain du Chocolat = This.


A little rest after our long walk to the Louvre!


The arch just prior to the entrance.




Jim getting excited about looking at miles of art!